More than $800,000 in grants from the Hawaii Wildfires Recovery Fund

This week marks the second anniversary of the tragic wildfires on Maui. The fires that claimed 102 precious human lives also shone a bright light on existing inequities and challenges around housing justice, food security and health care access on the island that is beloved by its residents and enjoyed by tourists year-round.

Since the fires, the Center for Disaster Philanthropy staff members have been engaged in recovery conversations with community leaders in and around Lahaina. The strategy behind our grantmaking, aimed, as always, at advancing equitable long-term recovery, was shaped by these early conversations and evolved as new needs emerged.

Our Hawaii Wildfires Recovery Fund is a pooled fund supported by our generous donors that has allowed us to deploy $2.5 million over the past two years. All but $75,000 of these grantmaking dollars were awarded to locally led organizations. The $75,000 supported programming that allowed a national expert in disaster behavioral health to coach and train local recovery leaders.

Over the last year, CDP made the following grants totaling $812,563.77 from the Hawaii Wildfires Recovery Fund:

• All Hands and Hearts received $110,000 to continue their work removing debris that was ineligible for removal from residential properties within the scope of the Army Corps of Engineers debris removal program, so that wildfire survivors who do not have the resources or ability to complete this work could move forward. With a goal of “[removing] the emotional, physical and financial burden of debris removal,” All Hands staff and trained volunteers operated from a lens of cultural competency, respecting landowner wishes around culturally or familiarly significant landmarks. View a video describing the ‘Maui ineligible debris removal’ program here.
• The Ho’ola Mauikama Long Term Recovery Group, through fiscal sponsor Maui United Way, received $377,500 to support full-time staffing to carry out the work of bringing about equitable recovery to Maui wildfire survivors using the long-term recovery group model. Some grant funds were also used for the LTRG’s gas card program, which helped displaced families from Lahaina, now scattered across the island, keep stable employment or schooling going.
• Through funding primarily from the CDP Disaster Recovery Fund, Vibrant Emotional Health received $300,000, with $75,000 coming from the Hawaii Wildfires Recovery Fund, to support Maui-based programming to continue to support and care for those in the acute and longer-term recovery phases of a disaster or crisis. The cadre of 1,200+ volunteer emotional care providers is committed to effectively alleviating and mitigating the emotional suffering that can arise in the wake of disasters or crises and working collaboratively with those affected to build capacity and self-efficacy and empower them to lead their own long-term recovery.
• Through fiscal agent Maui Grassroots Collective, Maui Medic Healers Hui received $250,063.77 to provide long-term, trauma-informed healing and resilience-building for Maui wildfire survivors through holistic health care, mobile community care teams and culturally-rooted education initiatives. This project aims to restore well-being, expand access to integrative care and empower the community with Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) and contemporary healing practices for sustained recovery.

In addition to grantmaking, CDP staff have participated in Hawaii’s Funder Hui network. Domestic Funds Program Officer Cari Cullen will be a panelist on today’s webinar sponsored by the network, titled “Lahaina Community Land Trust: Community-driven solutions for land and housing justice.” 

CDP will continue to support all of our Hawaii Wildfires Recovery Fund grantee partners throughout their grant periods. As we celebrate each recovery milestone with them and their neighbors, we also understand that recovery will take more time. If you or your foundation would like to better understand long-term recovery from disasters and how you can make an impact, please reach out to info@disasterphilanthropy.org.

For comprehensive coverage of Maui’s two-year recovery period, visit CDP grantee partner Honolulu Civil Beat’s Maui Wildfires landing page.